Same-Sex Marriage expands to Hawaii

Just two weeks ago, I blogged about Illinois moving to become the 15th state to enact same-sex marriage. Both the Illinois House and Senate passed the legislation and the governor had agreed to sign it. However, even before Governor Quinn could arrange for the signing ceremony, Hawaii beat Illinois to become the 15th state! So, same-sex marriage continues to expand rapidly in the United States. Hawaii now joins the list of those states allowing same-sex marriage (in order of recognition), as the 15th state. Illinois will be the 16th state, once the governor signs the legislation:

Massachusetts

California

Connecticut

Iowa

Vermont

New Hampshire

New York

Washington (state)

Maine

Maryland

Rhode Island

Delaware

Minnesota

New Jersey

Hawaii

Illinois (pending, to be signed by Governor Quinn)

In addition to the states listed above, the District of Columbia allows same-sex marriage. Further, New Mexico has no state law allowing or denying such marriages. However, the most populous counties in the state allow same-sex marriage and are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Thus, today same-sex marriage is allowed where about 40% of Americans live.

This expansion has even more significance in light of the Windsor decision, which held that the Defense of Marriage Act did not allow (or force) the federal government to treat same-sex married couples differently than traditional married couples in the same state. In addition, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17, which provided that same-sex married couples will be treated as married for federal tax purposes, wherever they live, as long as the marriage was valid where performed.

Next week, I’ll blog specifically about income tax filing for same-sex couples.

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